“Sold!” the auctioneer declared. “The diamond bracelet once belonging to Maria Theresa, for two hundred forty thousand euros. To Mr. Yurislav, up in the skybox.” He pointed above, and everyone clapped politely.
Brightly and Sylvana had risen to their feet and were squeezing past Heloise. They left the banquette and slipped out of the salesroom through the exit on that side.
Violet’s pulse was racing. She’d never known Sylvana to leave an auction. Something important must have happened.
“And now, on to Lot 20: a turquoise, gold, and diamond brooch.”
As the auction proceeded, the jewels for sale continued to enchant the other attendees.
But Violet would have given any precious gem in the world to know where Sylvana had gone.
As creepy as the Montmartre house had been before, it was even worse without other people in it.
Soon after the others left, Eden went downstairs to rummage around in Delta’s kitchen. Like the rest of the house, it had seen better days. The floor was pale-green linoleum, and the counters were a gross orangey brown. But there was half a baguette on the counter, and in the refrigerator some sliced ham, mayonnaise, and a tomato. There was also a carton of milk, a jar of pickles, and a few cans of cat food.
“Cat food?” Eden wondered aloud. Was there a cat somewhere around here too?
She pulled out what she needed, made a sandwich, and poured herself a glass of milk. She took them to the dining table and sat there alone while she ate. None of Delta’s pets were in sight—and, for once, they were silent, too.
When she was finished, Eden washed her dishes and placed them back in Delta’s cabinets. Then she rooted around in the kitchen drawers. Among a wide variety of moldy-smelling junk, she found a pack of playing cards. She went into the other room downstairs, a living room with a strange assortment of furniture including a faded blue sofa and a harpsichord, and played solitaire while the sun set. Although the curtains were closed, the room got darker and darker as she played.
She won four games in a row, but then she couldn’t see the suits anymore. She didn’t feel like turning on the light, so she sat in the dark, sort of creeped out but also still angry, and wondered what was happening at Brightly Tech.
An hour later, most of the animals had joined Eden downstairs. Clearly, they weren’t used to Delta being away. Trevor the dog whined; the birds cheeped and squawked; and the cat, who’d made her first appearance, mewed plaintively. Eden went back into the kitchen to find food for all of them, then set out their meals in bowls and dishes and watched the animals inhale them.
By now, she would have expected Pepper, Bola, and Delta to be back. She wasn’t worried, exactly; they were immortal, so nothing could really happen to them. Still, it seemed strange that they weren’t home yet.
She went upstairs and into the bedroom she was sharing with Pepper. Right as she sat on the saggy bed, she heard a car pull up in front of the house and stop.
She wanted to rush to the window, but instead, she made herself stay seated. She didn’t want them to see she’d been worried. She wanted to give off the appearance of being cool and unconcerned.
A car door slammed. Downstairs, the animals were going crazy—squawking, barking, and meowing. Had they done that earlier today when they came home? Eden couldn’t remember.
She couldn’t hold out any longer. She went to the window and peeked through the curtain. And what she saw sucked the breath out of her chest.
The car parked in front of the derelict house wasn’t Delta’s banged-up brown Renault. Instead, it was a sleek black sedan exactly like the one Eden had hopped into with Brightly.
Downstairs, the gold door knocker banged. The animals went even more mental. Eden crept halfway down the stairs.
“Are you sure this is right?” a man asked in French. “It sounds like a zoo in there.”
“This is the address that old Renault was registered to,” a woman responded.
Eden clapped a hand over her mouth. The old Renault was Delta’s car!
“The registration is thirty years old,” the woman went on, “but it doesn’t look like this place has changed since then.”
The man could be Dr. Patrick Evans or Jean Luc. At any rate, Eden was sure she hadn’t heard Brightly’s drawling voice. And the woman could only be Jane Johnston.
“I don’t understand why she’d be with those women—and at this house,” said the man.
“But you saw the photo that the little one had on her,” said Jane. “That was definitely a picture of Eden. Trust me, we’re at the right place.”
Eden’s heart pounded. Pepper must have brought the photo of Eden and Tyler with her! But she never would have offered it up to Brightly’s employees willingly. If they’d seen it, that meant…
“Anyone home?” Jane’s voice called. She banged the door knocker again, and the animals went ballistic. “Hello!”
Eden scrambled up the rest of the stairs and into the bedroom, and locked the door. She surveyed the room wildly, thinking fast.
She flung the closet door open and saw the brown wig on a shelf. She used an elastic on her wrist to twist her hair into a low bun, then pulled it on.
The school uniform was hanging in the closet too, but the growing intensity of the knocking downstairs told her she didn’t have time to worry about that.
Pepper had brought the leather backpack from New York, and most of the cash that the masters had placed inside was still there. That was American money, though. Eden saw Pepper’s purse, pulled it over, and dug around to find her wallet. Peeking inside, she saw credit cards. She slipped one into the pocket of her jean shorts.
Pepper’s new patterned head scarf was lying on the floor next to the purse. Eden swallowed when she saw it.
From downstairs, she heard a sharp crack, then a sound like glass shattering. The animals cranked up the volume of their chaotic cries, and Eden’s heart started drumming harder and faster.
“Through here!” she heard Jane hiss. Then, louder: “Eden?”
In the bedroom, Eden struggled to unlock the window. The latch on the pane was rusted closed; it probably hadn’t been opened for decades. Still, she worked at it with trembling fingers.
“Eden! Where are you?” said the man in accented English. Must be Jean Luc, Eden thought. It didn’t sound like Dr. Evans.
“What’s with all these animals?” said Jane, sounding cranky.
“Eden! Your friends are at the lab. They want you to come!” Jean Luc called.
Even as she worked at the lock, Eden had to roll her eyes. Did they think she was stupid?
“Remember how you wanted Mr. Brightly to make his wishes? He’s ready now.” The stairs started to creak, and Jane’s voice grew closer. “We’ll take you to him, and then you can go home with your friends.”
Just then, the latch flew open. It pinched Eden’s finger, but the pain subsided immediately. She shoved the window up, sat on the ledge, and swung her feet out.
The doorknob clicked as someone tried to open it. “I think she’s in here!” Jane exclaimed.
There was the sound of a blunt impact on the wood. Even with that first kick, Eden heard wood splinter. It wouldn’t withstand much more.
Eden took a deep breath and launched herself out of the second-story window.
She landed softly enough on the small patch of grass in front of the house, but her right foot twisted when it hit the ground. It took all she had to suppress a scream of agony. Biting her lip, she lifted the foot and shook it out, and it returned to normal right away. She remembered how much pain Sasha had been in when she’d sprained her ankle at the beach in San Diego, and was overwhelmingly grateful for her genie bracelet’s magical healing power.
She stole across the yard, moving downhill. She passed the handsome cream house with green shutters pressed up against Delta’s. Then the next house, then another. She picked up speed as she flew down the steeply inclined road, with the cool September air grazing her skin.
She needed to get out of Montmartre. Once Jane and Jean Luc broke into the bedroom—and it wouldn’t take long—they’d see that the window was open. She’d jumped from a much higher height at Brightly Tech, so they’d probably know that she’d done it again. And also, that she wasn’t far away.
I need a taxi, she thought—but it seemed like a long shot among Montmartre’s winding streets. Still, as she jogged through the night, she scanned them for a car with a lit-up sign on top. She had no idea where to go—but at the moment, anywhere was better than here.
The moon was nearly full, and a few stars illuminated the sky. She could see more of them here than in New York, anyway.
Jean Luc had said that “all her friends” were at Brightly Tech. Presumably, that meant Pepper, Bola, and Delta. Or was Sylvana being held there too? If things had gone according to Brightly’s plan, she’d be trapped in his clutches right along with the Loyals.
Eden couldn’t imagine how they’d managed to capture them all. It seemed that even without his wishes, Brightly was more powerful than Eden had realized.
Her friends. Who were Eden’s friends, anyway? Bola and Delta? They’d been so angry when she’d followed Brightly and Sylvana to Electra. And what about Pepper? The thought made Eden’s heart ache. She’d felt so betrayed by Pepper. But deep down, she knew her guardian was trying to protect her. And the truth was, it had worked. If Eden had gone with them, she’d probably be trapped in Brightly Tech too.
Eden remembered how she’d acted when Pepper left, and was hit by a sick sense of shame. She’d been horrible. Pepper had told her she loved her, and she hadn’t even answered.
Somehow, she had to get them out. And as she veered down the tiniest streets she could find, it was clear that she was going to need help. But from who?
She thought about the people who’d helped her so far. There was Melodie, the master of disguise. Though Eden had been to her house, there was no chance she could navigate her way back there. And anyway, she couldn’t risk attracting the attention of her journalist parents.
Tyler and Sasha were halfway across the world—and since she hadn’t checked her online profile since she’d messaged them, she didn’t know if they’d responded. There was a very good chance they wanted nothing to do with her.
There was absolutely no one to turn to. Eden was at a loss.
But then, something occurred to her. She might not have any other friends in Paris, but Sylvana did. And if the night had gone according to Brightly’s plans, Sylvana needed help just as badly as the Loyals.
The idea starting to form in Eden’s head was an odd one. And yet, she realized grimly, it might be her only chance.
Just then, a taxi appeared. Eden waved her arms frantically to flag it down.
She climbed in and spoke to the driver in French:
“Take me to the Grand Hotel Paris.”
Outside the hotel on Avenue Montaigne, Eden paid using Pepper’s credit card and took a moment to adjust her wig before getting out of the car. She looked up at the red geraniums climbing over the hotel’s balconies, and summoned all the courage she could muster.
She entered through the revolving door. In a perfect world, she’d march through the lobby and proceed straight on to her destination. But unfortunately, she didn’t know where that destination was. So instead, she sidled up to the long wooden desk.
“Bonsoir, mademoiselle,” said a sour-faced young woman with very thin eyebrows.
“Bonsoir,” Eden replied. She continued in French. “My aunt asked me to bring something to her assistant, but she forgot to tell me which room she’s in.”
“Pas de problème,” the woman said. “Give me her name, and I’ll call up to her room.”
“Actually, my aunt told me not to do that,” Eden said. “She said I should go straight up.”
The woman blinked at her. “That’s impossible.”
“Why?”
“I can’t just give you a guest’s room number.”
“Oh, really?” Eden shook her head. “That’s too bad. Aunt Sylvana won’t be happy about that.”
The woman raised her thin eyebrows. “Aunt who?”
“Sylvana. You know, the head of Electra?”
“She’s your aunt?” The woman looked unconvinced.
“Yeah. She told me not to bother her tonight after the auction, but if you insist—”
“Yes, I would need to speak to her,” the woman said icily. “We know Sylvana very well. Have her call us at the front desk.”
Eden smiled, trying to appear unruffled.
“Pas de problème,” she said. “Just a minute.”
She walked through the lobby, took a left at the hallway filled with paintings, and sat on a plush navy armchair. She’d been hoping the name of her nemesis would work like a magic password. But she was learning that things were never quite as easy as she hoped.
She was glad to be out of the receptionist’s line of sight. She didn’t even have a phone to pretend she was trying to get ahold of Sylvana. She sighed, thinking of what to do next.
Her chair faced the door and several large windows to the courtyard where Sylvana and Brightly had eaten lunch. It was bustling with late-night revelers.
On the right side of the door sat one other person in an armchair. It looked like a boy, hunched over with his elbows on his legs, holding his head in his hands.
Eden couldn’t see his face, but his hair was straight, shiny chestnut brown. At his feet was a gray-and-white backpack, emblazoned with the logo of a popular surf company.
Eden frowned. She’d seen that backpack before—or at least one exactly like it.
She stood up and crept over slowly. There was no chance in the world that it was him, she told herself. But for peace of mind, she had to make sure.
She stood over him, staring at the back of his head. It certainly looked like him from this angle. But there was no chance he’d be here in Paris.
If she were to say his name, she’d be embarrassed when it wasn’t him. But she also couldn’t seem to move away.
A laughing couple opened the door from the courtyard and walked inside, letting the merriment from outside leak in momentarily. The boy straightened up and shook his shaggy hair to one side.
When their eyes met, Eden felt as if a vacuum had sucked all the breath from her lungs.
“Tyler?” she gasped.
But in his face, she saw only confusion.
Eden was mortified. What if he’d come to Paris for some reason completely separate from her? What if he really didn’t want to see her ever again? Or—even worse—what if he’d already forgotten her completely?
But then she remembered she was wearing the wig.
He jumped to his feet. “Eden!” he said. “I didn’t even recognize you with that—”
“Shhhh,” she said, clapping a hand over his mouth. The happy couple turned and glanced at them, but they didn’t care enough to stop and investigate. They continued through the lobby.
Eden took her hand off Tyler’s mouth. “You can’t say my name,” she whispered. “I’m in disguise at the moment. Because—”
“Because everyone’s looking for you!” he said, more quietly. “I know, I’m sorry. That was stupid.” He squeezed her shoulders, then took his hands away, looking nervous. “I—”
She reached out and hugged him as tight as she could. It was him! He was here, right now, in Paris!
“How are you here?” she whispered.
“I snuck away,” he said earnestly. “Dad doesn’t know—well, actually, he does now, and he’s pissed. But I had to come. Sasha and I pooled all our money, and we had just enough for one ticket to Paris. But she doesn’t have a passport, and I got one last year because I was going to go on a trip to Mexico with Devin and his family—before Mom got sick.”
“But—why?” She still didn’t dare presume…
“For you!” Tyler grinned, showing those slightly crooked teeth that Eden had missed so much. “To help you, I mean.
Why else would I come to Paris?”
“Really?” Eden felt a kind of happiness she hadn’t known existed. For some reason, it made her feel like she might cry. “Does this mean you’re not mad at me?”
“Mad at you? Why?”
“Because of what happened last time, with your dad. It was all because of me.”
Tyler laughed. “Are you crazy? That wasn’t your fault! Sash and I never blamed you for that! Anyway, it all worked out okay.”
Eden was weak with relief. It felt like she’d been carrying a backpack stuffed with heavy books for weeks, and she’d only just removed it.
“When we woke up yesterday morning, Sasha got your message,” Tyler said. “We both wrote you, but you didn’t answer. Then we saw that David Brightly was searching for you. We didn’t know what was going on, but we knew it couldn’t be good.”
“You saw that all the way in San Diego?”
“Yeah! It’s big news. Everyone was asking us about it at school.”
Eden grimaced. She hadn’t managed to fit in with the kids at Mission Beach Middle even when she was sitting next to them in classes, trying her best to blend in as a normal seventh grader. She couldn’t imagine what they must be thinking now.
“And then I got a message from your friend Melodie.”
Eden’s mouth dropped open in surprise. “You did?”
“Yeah. It was in French, but I translated it on the Internet. She wanted to tell you she was sorry about what happened. Something about her sister showing up? Anyway, she thought you might be with me. And then I knew for sure that I had to come.”
Eden’s face felt warm. Maybe she had a few more friends than she’d thought.
“But how did you end up here, at this hotel?” That part Eden really couldn’t make sense of.
“I remembered how you’d said that Electra’s headquarters are in Paris, and that Sylvana had tried to bring you here. I knew that if something funny was going on, they were probably involved. I found out they were having an auction tonight, so I went. Well, they wouldn’t let me inside, but I hung around outside looking for you.” He tossed his head again to get the hair out of his eyes. “No sign of you, but I did see Violet. I was sure she’d recognize me, but she seemed like she was in her own world. She left by herself, so I followed her—and ended up here.”
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